


The Death of Iron Man

by Nighthinkng



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Sad, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-27 08:13:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16215038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nighthinkng/pseuds/Nighthinkng
Summary: After the events of Infinity War and the death of half of the universe, the burden of bringing everyone back falls on the shoulders of Tony Stark.OrThree times when Tony Stark tried to sacrifice himself for universe and the one time he actually does.





	The Death of Iron Man

_'God’_ He thought _'this is it’_

Tony looked down at his blood drenched hands. Whose blood was it? He couldn't even tell anymore. He looked down at the decapitated Titan’s head and suddenly his mind flashes back to his first interaction with Thanos, the one that ended with a stab wound in his stomach and with Peter and Stephen dusting away with the guardians.

 

_After nebula helped him fly the ship back to earth and into the battle ridden Wakanda, he suddenly realized how heavily affected earth was by Thanos’ actions. He barely had time to process the sight he just witnessed as he was soon in the royal palace and face to face with a heartbroken Steve Rogers for the first time in two years._

_The rest of the Avengers, those who were still alive, stared in anticipation but the only thing Tony managed to do was break down in tears in front of everyone for the very first time._

_Rhodey_ _rushed to his side before his knees could hit the floor and Steve could do nothing but stare as he was too shocked and grief stricken to say anything._

_A few hours later when Tony calmed down, Steve knocked on the door of his Wakandan castle room, but instead of waiting for permission to enter, Steve let himself in. Tony sat_ _on the bed and looked up from his hands to Steve's face, his body tensing up instantly._

_“I don't have the energy to talk to you right now"_

_“You don't have to talk, you just need to listen. I know nothing I could say would change the past or even make you forgive me, but I need you to know that if I could have done what was done any differently I would have. I never wanted to hurt you Tony, I only wanted to do what was right and back then that was saving Bucky.”_

_“So that's why you left me in Siberia? So I can die, so you and Bucky could finally gaze into each other's eyes in peace?”_

_“Excuse me?”_

_“You left me to die in Siberia! You didn't bother looking back after you completely destroyed the one thing that could take me back home! Did you even care?” Tony paused to look at Steve's confused expression “Answer me Rogers! Did you even care that you left me there!?”_

_“T'challa was there Tony, you weren't alone-”_

_“You only knew that in retrospect” He cut Steve mid sentence “You only knew that when I was already in New York. What would have happened if T'challa decided to leave five minutes before finding me?”_

_The air in the room was thick with tension. Both Tony and Steve knew that if T'challa wasn't there that day, he would have died in the Siberian bunker._

  


“S-Stop it” Tony rasped and puked up more blood. He shouldn't have to deal with bad memories right now. Not when he sees Peter running towards him, looking extr- wait, Peter?

“Mister Stark!”

Tony smiled. He missed being called like that.

  


_“Mister Stark, are you sure this is going to work?”_

_Peter and Tony were currently standing side by side in the elevator to Tony's helicopter so they could get Peter back home from the Stark tower._

_“Of course kid, this is the seventh update I made to the suit I'm sure it's gonna be fine”_

_“The suit is great, I was talking about… me in the suit, I mean I'm not sure I can do this thing Mister Stark, you know I'm not as good as you-”  Peter stopped talking at Tony's sudden head turn. He looked down at the young boy through the red lenses of his glasses for a few seconds before turning his head back to the elevator doors._

_“You don't need to be as good as me. You're gonna be better" He clapped Peter's back as the elevator door opened and stepped out to the roof of the building. Peter was so starstruck that the elevator doors were already closing back as he quickly jumped out as well._

  


“Mister Stark, oh my god Mister Stark!” Peter ran towards Tony with a shocked expression painted on his face.

“Hey kid” Tony said right before his knees gave out and he fell on fours. Two shaky hands reached to grab Tony's wrists to help him up and he was soon met with the face of Stephen Strange.

“Didn't think I'd ever be so glad to see you, doctor” he smiled fondly at the sorcerer, whose expression mirrored Peter's. He remembers the last time he saw their faces.

  


_First it was Mantis, then Drax and Quill_ . _The guardians were disappearing one by one into thin air as if they were never truly there._

_“Tony… there was no other way” was the last thing Stephen said before he disappeared right in front of Tony's eyes. He could barely turn around before Peter fell into his arms._

_“I don't wanna go… please… I don't wanna go…”_

_Peter was chanting into Tony's shoulder, but Tony couldn't do anything. “I'm sorry” he said before he too disappeared. Everything seemed like a blur, as Tony realized Thanos had won, which led to him realizing Vision must have died and maybe the rest of the Avengers too._

_It was as if he was up there to watch, unable to prevent anything. His legacy._

  


The coughing just wouldn't seem to stop and the thick blood was already making a mess of his Iron Man suit, whatever was left of it, at least. Stephen and Peter were talking to him but Tony couldn't make out what they were saying. His senses were slowly declining as he lost more blood than he ever did before.

The last person he managed to see towering over his body was Rhodey, he assumed Stephen must have opened a portal for him to be there. For most of his life they've been best friends, and he never once seen him cry so much. He looked so terrified.

_'Rhodey… how I'll miss you’_ Tony thought to himself, unable to physically say it out loud. With the thought of missing Rhodey, Tony instantly remembered the person waiting for him in New York. The tear that was now rolling down his cheek was in remembrance of his Pepper, the one thing he can't live without. Images of her face just flashed quickly in front of his eyes. His eyelids started fluttering as the world slowly but surely turned darker and darker.

  


_“It's so damn dark in here” Tony mumbled the moment his feet touched the ground. It was much easier to travel through space when you have the space stone at your service. Steve Rogers was right next to him, still a bit shaken by the teleport. Tony looked at him waiting for a reaction but Steve looked ahead and pointed straight. “See this mountain? That's probably where the stone is, let's go” Tony only nodded and grabbed onto Steve's bicep, teleporting them both to the top of the mountain._

_Steve wasted no time and started marching towards the dark figure hidden underneath the cloak. “Welcome Steve, son of joseph. Tony, son of Howard” the figure said calmly, a hint of glee in his words._

_“I recognize that voice.” Steve's eyebrows furrowed. “Who are you?” His voice was booming with demand and confidence, a feeling that was gone when the figure removed the hood of the cloak and revealed itself._

_“You haven't changed a single bit, Captain” The red color was a harsh contrast to the dull colors of Vormir, and Steve felt his stomach churning._

_“Wrong actually, he grew a beard” Tony said, mostly to himself, seeing as both Steve and the red skull ignored him._

_“This can't be possible, you died in that plane, I saw you disappear!”_

_“I have been a prisoner of the stone when I touched the tesseract and was teleported here by it. But I never died. You however, Captain, died that very day. Being kept on ice may have kept you physically alive, but you were never whole again. You could never be the same man you were before the burden of the shield took you prisoner, much like me”_  

_“I am nothing like you” Steve snarled back. “And I am not here to fight you, I know that the stone is here and I need you to tell me where”_

_“Very well Captain. I shall grant you the stone but you must know, it does not give up without getting something in return"_

_“And what would that be?” Tony finally joined the conversation._

_“A sacrifice. A soul_ _for a soul. You must lose that what you love in order to obtain the soul stone”_

_Steve turned around and looked at Tony. His expression was unreadable yet Steve understood him without having to say a word._

_“Promise me you'll get everyone back Tony" Steve placed a hand on Tony's shoulder and looked down at him. It took Tony a moment to realize what the captain was talking about._

_“What? No, what are you talking about" Tony's eyes widened and he couldn't believe what he heard. Was Steve just offering to die?_

_“There's no way you're gonna do it Rogers, we'll figure out some other way you can't possibly think I'm going to let you jump off that cliff-” Tony was rambling as he started to panic, but Steve only tightened the grip on his shoulder._

_“Tony, calm down and listen to me. There's no way out of this one, there's no cutting the wire. This is the real thing.”_

_“Steve… and I can't believe I'm going to say this, but you know I can't do this without you. I'd much rather jump that cliff myself, god knows how much I would love to. Sorry, that was kinda dark of me. My point is… the world needs you, they need someone to believe in, someone who can protect them!”_

_“You're right. They need you.” Steve smiled weakly, despite his heart going faster than it ever did before “I can save today, you can save the world”_

_And that was the last thing Steve said before he grabbed Tony's arm, walking him to the edge of the cliff and placing the small hand against the star on his broad chest. Tony's eyes were already starting to sparkle from the tears, while Steve just looked down at him with the kind smile Tony learned to love. It all happened so fast and before Tony knew it, he pushed Steve's body off the cliff of the mountain, successfully finishing the ritual of getting the soul stone. He placed the stone on his suit, specifically made to help him withstand the power of the stones._

_Tony had no time to cry over the loss of his friend because soon enough he teleported back to Titan to complete his task._

_Right where Tony knew he would be, Thanos was on Titan. His home planet. The reason this whole infinity stones deal ever started._

_The sight of his purple skin made Tony's blood boil, and in one blink of an eye he cut off the Titan’s head with Thor's Stormbreaker._

_The last thing he had to do was bring everyone back. Tony calmed his breathing and focused._

_This is the last step of bringing back the universe to what it was before. He snapped his fingers and in an instant his whole body felt like it was on fire, like being stabbed a thousand times, like someone was twisting his body inside out._

_The pain was indescribable, yet Tony smiled._

 

 

_‘God.' He thought. ‘This is it.’_


End file.
